Remembering Yesterday
by twiinklestar
Summary: What if Gozen's real plan wasn't to gather to embryo at all? What if his real plan was to make a memory-erasing machine instead? What if he succeeded on one Hinamori Amu? Now it's up to an older Ami and all of her sister's old friends to get her back!
1. Chapter 1

**Remembering Yesterday**

**Chapter 1**

A Shugo Chara! Fic

Pairings: IkutoxAmu[ro], KukaixUtau and NagihikoxRima

Summary: What if Gozen's real plan wasn't to gather to embryo at all? What if his real plan was to make a memory-erasing machine instead? What if he succeeded on one Hinamori Amu? Now it's up to an older Ami and all of her sister's old friends to get her back!

Rated K+

Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara! or any of it's characters, but I do own my plot so do not steal.

AGES/GRADE:

Kukai: Aged 18, grade 12.

Utau: Aged 17, grade 12.

Ikuto: Aged 19, grade 11 (why he is still in school and only in 11th grade will be explained later on).

Amu: Aged 16, grade 11.

Rima: Aged 16, grade 11.

Tadase: Aged 16, grade 11.

Nagihiko: Aged 17, grade 11.

Nadeshiko: Aged 17, grade 11.

Yaya: Aged 15, grade 10.

Ami: Aged 13, grade 8.

**IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW: All characters may not be used in the story (*cough cough* Tadase *cough cough*) and their school is not according to the Japanese school system, but rather the American one (elementary: kindergarten to grade 7 and high school: grade 8 to grade 12). I read a story a little while ago and it had Nagihiko and Nadeshiko as two different characters, so since I liked that idea a lot, I decided to make it that way in my story too! Another thing to take note of is that yes, Ami is only 3 or 4 years younger than them. I know that's not correct in the actual Shugo Chara plot, but that's the way it will be for this fic. THANKS!**

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Bored as ever, Ikuto twirled a pen around his fingers, wishing that something interesting would happen soon or at least class would begin.

"Alright, alright! Everybody settle down," the teacher, Mr. Fujiyoto called out, "We have a new student today. Everyone please welcome her. Her name is Kugimiya Amuro."

Ikuto sighed. He scarcely looked up from his seat; that was until a glimpse of pink caught his eye. His head snapped up and he dropped the pen that he had been playing with only moments before, letting it roll under the desk in front of him.

His jaw dropped. He could recognize her from anywhere!

He spun around to the desk behind him, jostling his sleeping, best friend awake.

"Oi! Rima! Rima wake up!"

Groggily, the pretty blonde-haired girl stifled a yawn and stared up at the boy who had a sudden burst of energy. She hadn't seen him so lively since the Christmas party they had had last year and he'd been drunk then.

"What is it, Ikuto? You're interrupting my sleep! I already told you Mom and Dad were fighting all last night, can't you let me get some rest?"

Ikuto ignored the questions.

"There's a new girl." He started, attempting to build up suspense.

She rose as eyebrow as if to say 'So? What's it to you?'

"Well, look at her!"

Rima sighed, but nonetheless, she looked past the blue-haired boy's shoulder at the girl standing in front of the entire class. She had pink hair and she wasn't wearing the school uniform yet. In its place she wore a yellow hoodie, a black tank top and a jean skirt. She had hot pink and black striped socks that were pulled up to her knees and she wore tall, loose-fitting brown cowboy boots. In her hair were two familiar looking red clips. They were shaped like X's.

Instantly, her head turned to face Ikuto.

"Doesn't she-"

"You think-"

Without even finishing their sentences, they both nodded in affirmation. The new girl was definitely their old friend, Hinamori Amu.

AMU[RO]'S POV:

I sighed. Another month, another school.

I stood in front of my new classmates, examining each and every one of them as the teacher – What was his name again? Fujitoko? Fujimoto? Oh well, I'll figure it out later – introduced me.

I shoved my hands into my pockets, putting most of my weight on my right leg. I always hated this part the most. The feeling of being new and different from everyone else never seemed to fade away. Feeling like I didn't belong here wasn't anything unusual. I bowed my head and gave the standard: "Hajimemashite douzo yoroshiku" greeting.

I wonder, absently, if this school was going to be any different from the rest. At other schools, the students seemed too scared to approach me. For whatever reason, people always found me intimidating. But I didn't mean to scare them off! I couldn't help hiding behind my 'Cool & Spicy' exterior!

I tried my best to look welcoming, but I admitted defeat when I heard the hushed whispers around me.

"Sugoi! She's so cool!"

I rolled my eyes, _'So much for this school being different.'_

The sound of a pen hitting the floor snapped me out of my thoughts. The source of the dropped pen was a handsome boy with blue hair who was staring back at me, his mouth hanging open like a fish out of water. He looked like he was older than everyone else in the class. Maybe he had failed a grade or two? But whatever it was, I couldn't help but feel that I had seen him somewhere before.

NORMAL POV:

She kept her gaze on the boy as he turned around to wake the girl behind him. The girl was pretty. She had long, curly blonde hair and she was very petit looking. Off-handedly, she thought, _'Perhaps they're dating.'_ After all, they both were very good looking and at every one of her other schools, it seemed that the best looking people were always paired up together.

A pang in her heart made her stop. What was this feeling? If she didn't even know this boy, why did she feel so hurt and betrayed?

Amuro pushed aside the feelings of pain and turned back to the teacher, just in time to hear where she would be sitting: right beside the pretty blonde-haired girl.

'_Oh great!' _In her mind, Amuro rolled her eyes.

Grunting in response to the teacher, she calmly walked down the aisles, ignoring the whispers surrounding her, and took her seat.

IKUTO'S POV:

I watched as she walked toward her new desk. Rima was lucky. Amu would be sitting beside her. But as I remembered why Amu had left us in the first place, my heart plummeted.

Four years ago, after Amu and the rest of the guardians had finally made peace with Easter and Gozen had thrown away the embryo, Amu and her parents were on their way to one of her little sister, Ami's, dance recitals. It was then that they got into a horrible accident. A loaded semi-truck had ran a red light and T-boned their tiny car. Hinamori Midori and Hinamori Tsumugu had died at the scene whereas Amu had fallen into a coma.

Her coma was short-lived, but when she awoke, they found that she couldn't remember any of them; not herself and not even her little sister who was nine at the time.

They hadn't even gotten to say their goodbyes before she was whisked away by some man who had volunteered to adopt her. The doctor had reassured them that the man would take good care of her, but they were forbidden to bid her farewell; something about confusing her and only causing her more mental stress. The doctor said it would be better if she was to just start all over rather than to try remembering her forgotten past.

At that point, Ikuto had felt his heart break into a million pieces. The girl he loved could no longer remember who she was or who he was. But feeling indebted to her for saving him from Easter's evil clutches, he took in Ami, who had no other place to go.

Ami had no problems adjusting to her new lifestyle with the Tsukiyomi family. She had already known Ikuto from the times when he had come over to visit Amu or the times when she tagged along with her sister and Ikuto to go to the park. She also knew that her sister had trusted Ikuto and that was enough to make her trust him as well. And not only did she like Ikuto (or _onii-chan_ as she liked to call him) but she also idolized his sister, Utau. Utau was a famous pop singer and Ami was no more than happy to be able to live in the same residence as she.

Ikuto and Utau's father, Aruto, had come back shortly after Ami's adoption. It turned out that their mother had never been legally re-married and Aruto and her had never been divorced. Both their father and their mother adored Ami. They thought she was the 'cutest little thing' and welcomed her as their own daughter. They lived as one big happy family.

But although most of the times were happy, there were times when they all recalled Amu and when Ami recalled her parents and their deaths. Ami would cry and seek refuge in her _onii-chan_ or _onee-chan_'s hugs. Sometimes she would sleep with them, clutching Amu's favourite teddy bear to her chest. And it was times like these where Ikuto, Utau and the rest of the guardians found themselves missing her too. But nonetheless, they stood strong and braved their loss, all in hopes of raising Ami because Amu didn't remember enough to take care of her.

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NORMAL POV:

Ami was no longer the little girl doing ballet recitals and posing as a model for her father's photographs. She had grown a lot taller and she had let her strawberry blonde locks grow out until they had reached her belly button. She was pretty just like her sister had been and just like when she was younger, the boys were still useless to denying her anything she wanted.

The younger Hinamori sat in the cafeteria, across from her two friends, Chise and Ayano. They were gossiping about some boy in one of their classes but Ami wasn't listening. As usual, she was zoned out, thinking about how much had happened in the past four years and how much certain people had influenced her.

In a way, Nadeshiko, Rima, Yaya and Utau all became her older sisters (well, Yaya was more like her twin sister, but she could be mature when she wanted to be) and mother-figures. And Kukai, Ikuto and Nagihiko were the protective big brothers. She felt lucky to have grown up with so many people loving her and taking care of her. She knew she could go to any one of them for guidance or help but sometimes, she just missed her big sister.

Thinking about her sister or her parents always made her cry, but lucky for Ami, all of her 'family' attended the same school. Even Ikuto-niichan! Although he should have graduated a year ago, he was only in eleventh grade. After her sister had left, he had gone searching all over Japan for her. He would come home exhausted and tired and ill-tempered but as soon as she gave him a 'Welcome-Home-and-Thanks-for-Trying' hug, she could tell that he always felt a little bit better knowing that at least he was doing something to help Amu out, even if she was fully unaware. All that mattered was that if she had known, she would've been proud of him and that was all the motivation the cat-boy needed.

After searching for those two long years and never coming up with any results, Ikuto had decided that he would go back to school and finish his education so that he could get a well-paying job. Once he had enough money, he would search the rest of the world for her. He would find her, no matter what.

Ami was thankful that Ikuto tried so hard for her and Amu. He was always doing things to make her happy and always putting on his best front for her. Not once had she seen him cry since Amu had left, but she knew that he probably had, at least twice.

Ami knew that her _onii-chan_ was in love with her sister. And she knew that when her sister had remembered them, she had loved Ikuto-niichan too. Even when her sister had thought she was in love with Tadase, who had moved to some European country without a care in the world, Ami knew that she really cared for the blue-haired boy. And Ami believed that one day, Ikuto would find her older sister. And that was the truth.

Speaking of Ikuto, Ami was startled out of her thoughts when two pairs of fists were slammed down on the table in front of her, nearly causing her carton of milk to tip over.

Two figures, one blonde and one blue, leaned over the table, huffing and puffing as if they'd just ran a marathon.

"A-Ami!" Ikuto had managed to choke out.

She stared at him oddly.

"Ikuto-niichan? Rima-chan? What's going on?" Ami ignored her two friends who were swooning at the sight of the boy.

Rima was the first to recover… somewhat.

"I-It-It's A-"

Ami rolled her eyes at the gasping eleventh graders.

"You guys~! Spit it out already! A-what?"

"IT'S AMU!" they both shouted at once. "She's here!"

Ami's eyes widened in shock. Amu? As in her older sister Amu? Amu was here? Where? Why? How? So many questions were running though her head and she stared back at the hyperventilating teens.

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**And that's it for the first chapter. I'd love to know what you guys think of it. I already have chapter 2 and 3 finished. And I'm hoping I will be able to finish this one. Often I find myself losing interest in my own multi-chapter fics, but I think this one will go on. Now review, review, review! I hate to do this, but I'd like to get at least.. I don't know, 10 reviews before posting the next chapter. So yes, let's make that the goal. 10 reviews = the next chapter.**

**PS: I do not currently have a beta for this story, so if you'd like to beta, that'd be great! I have however read it in my head and out loud to myself more than several times so I don't believe there should be many mistakes.**

**So yes, I hope you guys like it and please review! The green button is calling out to you :P**


	2. Chapter 2

**Remembering Yesterday**

**Chapter Two**

A Shugo Chara! Fic

Pairings: IkutoxAmu[ro], KukaixUtau and NagihikoxRima

Summary: What if Gozen's real plan wasn't to gather to embryo at all? What if his real plan was to make a memory-erasing machine instead? What if he succeeded on one Hinamori Amu? Now it's up to an older Ami and all of her sister's old friends to get her back!

Rated K+

Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara! or any of its characters, but I do own my plot so do not steal.

AGES/GRADE:

Kukai: Aged 18, grade 12.

Utau: Aged 17, grade 12.

Ikuto: Aged 19, grade 11 (why he is still in school and only in 11th grade will be explained later on).

Amu: Aged 16, grade 11.

Rima: Aged 16, grade 11.

Tadase: Aged 16, grade 11.

Nagihiko: Aged 17, grade 11.

Nadeshiko: Aged 17, grade 11.

Yaya: Aged 15, grade 10.

Ami: Aged 13, grade 8.

* * *

Ami thought it was an odd relationship that Rima and Ikuto had. When she had first met each of them, they seemed like the last people on earth who would become best friends. But they did. And now, here they were; bending over on their knees after breaking the shocking news: Amu was here at Seiyo High.

As Ami took the information in, she couldn't help but not believe them. It had been four years since her sister had forgotten them and moved away to some hidden, far way place. There was no way she could be here now in the same building! Ami looked up at her two elders who were smiling happily at her. She shook her head sadly, causing their smiles to turn into frowns.

"No she's not. It's been so long, she couldn't possibly be here now. You two are just imagining things."

Her eyes began to well with tears and Ikuto stepped forward to protest.

"Ami, no! We're telling the truth, she's really-"

Ikuto was interrupted when two long-haired twins ran up behind them, practically tripping over their own feet in a mad dash to explain their findings.

"Ami-chan! Ami-chan!"

"Did you see her?"

"She's here! She's really here!"

Ami's tears had vanished. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. If Nagihiko _and_ Nadeshiko had both seen Amu, maybe Ikuto and Rima _were_ right. Maybe Amu really was here?

"Y-you mean-"

"YES!" All four teens shouting back at her had caused a scene in the cafeteria. Almost every table was now staring at them – some had already been watching the scene unfold.

You could say that their group was a… well-known one.

Ikuto was the most attractive boy in the entire school. His playboy attitude and the well-known-fact that he was old enough to be in college had made him a hit with the half of the school population. Rima was the prettiest girl in all of eleventh grade therefore she already had boys kneeling at her feet. The fact that she was hunky Ikuto's best friend only made her all the more popular, although, not exactly in a good way. Tsukiyomi's fan girls were _not_ a force to be reckoned with.

Nagihiko was the best basketball player and D.J that Seiyo High had ever seen and his extremely gentlemanly attitude made the girls nearly faint with over excitement, even though everyone knew his heart belonged to Rima. His twin sister, Nadeshiko was known as the nicest girl in school. She was brilliant in the areas of traditional Japanese dance and also in those of cooking. She was kind-hearted and motherly to everyone. There wasn't a single kid in school that _didn't_ want to be friends with her.

And the missing, inseparable couple of Kukai and Utau just added to their group's popularity. Kukai was the soccer captain and was the M.V.P of pretty much every school sports team. He was good looking and majorly enthusiastic. His positive attitude would put a smile on anyone's face. He also happened to be dating _Hoshina_ Utau – 'nuff said.

Yaya and Ami just happened to be the two cute, 'little' girls that were lucky enough to know them all personally. Just by association, they had earned their fame.

* * *

Amuro looked at the scraggly piece of note paper in her hand. She had asked the secretary to give her directions to her locker and instead she was given this mess of scribbled lines in which she assumed was supposed to be a map.

Turning left (at least, she thought she should be turning left), she walked into something hard. Whatever it was, it had sent her flying backwards. She had closed her eyes, preparing for the impact but found that there never was one. When she opened her eyes again, a pair of shocked emerald eyes stared back at her. Immediately, she scrambled to her feet and bowed her head in an apology.

"Gomenasai! I wasn't watching where I was going!"

She looked up again, for the first time noticing the blonde girl beside the boy who had caught her. His hand was protectively around her waist and they both wore the same shocked expression.

Amuro stared at the girl. She had long blonde hair that was tied into pigtails. She knew she had seen this girl before, but where? Her mind clicked. The girl was Hoshina Utau, the famous pop artist! She inwardly screamed in excitement. How cool was it to go to the same school as Hoshina Utau? Then she thought again. How _un_cool was it for her to walk into Hoshina Utau's boyfriend?

She pushed away her thoughts in order to apologize again when she finally realized they were still staring at her with identical astonished expressions.

"Eee to…" she shifted uncomfortably.

The boy blinked. Suddenly he was sticking his hand out.

"I'm Soma Kukai. What's your name?"

Amuro reached forward to shake his hand. "Ano, I'm Kugimiya Amuro. Once again, I'm very sorry for bumping into you like that."

She felt her eyes shifting over to Utau, as if asking for her approval. But Utau was still gaping back at her.

She watched as both of them turned to stare at each other, silently communicating – which she found rather awkward – and nodding. Then they both looked at her, wide smiles on their faces.

Utau spoke. "Is it your first day here, Amuro? We'd be glad to show you around! By the way, my name is Tsukiyomi Utau, but you can just call me Utau."

Amuro felt relieved that Utau wasn't mad at her. She smiled back, timidly. "Yeah, I know you. Oh and yes, it is my first day!"

The pink-haired girl felt the lined-paper being pulled out of her hand. Kukai was staring at it, puzzled. He held it up to the light as if that would make the image any clearer.

"What is this? If this is what you plan on handing into your art teacher as an introductory piece, you might want to rethink your choice."

She found herself laughing. "No, it's supposed to be a map to my locker."

Kukai looked appalled. How could such a mess lead her anywhere? Un-ashamed, he scrunched the map into a ball and threw it behind him, not even looking back.

"Well, now that we've decided _that_ was of no use to anyone, what number is your locker?"

Amuro couldn't help but feel glad that she had bumped into Kukai and Utau. They were so nice and maybe they would end up being friends.

Hastily, Amuro unfolded a tiny square from her pocket and read the writing out loud. "Locker 1582."

Utau grinned. "Perfect, that's right next to Ikuto's!"

Ikuto? That sounded familiar… where had she heard that name before? Oh yes! She remembered the pretty girl, Rima, introducing him to her after she had been assigned to sit next to her. He was the blue-haired boy. Apparently Rima and this Ikuto guy were best friends.

"You guys know Ikuto?" she questioned.

The blonde flashed her a smile. "You betcha! Ikuto's my older brother."

Amuro gasped. She would have never guessed that Utau had an older brother; much less would she have guessed it'd be Ikuto.

And the three of them made their way through the hallways to locker 1582, discussing Ikuto and Rima and all of Kukai and Utau's other friends, all of whom Amuro couldn't wait to meet.

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**A/N: Hey there everybody. I didn't get as many reviews as I was hoping for on the last chapter, but I'm hoping that once I upload a few more chapters, that might change your mind! This chapter was short, and not much happened, but don't worry. Things will get moving soon! Now get to reviewing!**

**~twiinklestar**


	3. Chapter 3

**Remembering Yesterday**

**Chapter 3**

A Shugo Chara! Fic

Pairings: IkutoxAmu[ro], KukaixUtau and NagihikoxRima

Summary: What if Gozen's real plan wasn't to gather to embryo at all? What if his real plan was to make a memory-erasing machine instead? What if he succeeded on one Hinamori Amu? Now it's up to an older Ami and all of her sister's old friends to get her back!

Rated K+

Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara! or any of it's characters, but I do own my plot so do not steal.

**A/N: It finally has a title!**

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Kukai swung the locker door open with ease. Then, as if it were the most normal thing in the world, he stuck his head in and took a large whiff.

Pulling his head out, he gave her a thumbs up. "Score Hina- I mean, Kugimiya, your locker smells A-okay!"

She raised her eyebrow at him but thanked him anyway, ignoring the fact that he had almost called her something else (it was normal for people to forget her name). She didn't want to know why he had smelled her locker nor did she want to know what the not-A-okay lockers smelt like.

She felt Utau pat her on the shoulder.

"Lucky you! Now make sure you take care of it. Don't be like Kukai here and leave all your old lunch sandwiches inside along with your sweaty soccer cleats. There's a reason why Kukai keeps his school books in my locker."

Amuro giggled at Kukai's dejected face and promised to take good care of locker 1582.

She began shoving books and pencils into her locker. Her textbooks were all neatly placed on the top shelf, spine facing outward. And on the bottom section, she stuffed her bag in. She took out her schedule and folded it into her pocket along with her locker combination and shut the locker door. She came face to face with another one of Kukai and Utau's silent conversations.

Amuro found these unspoken chats unnerving yet cute. She was fascinated by how they could speak to each other without speaking out loud but she also thought it was annoying. Why couldn't they just say it out loud?

And as if reading her mind, Kukai spoke.

"Hey Utau, I'm going to head over to the cafe now, you know, gather everybody around so they can meet Amuro. Would you mind showing her to her classes?"

Utau nodded, giving him a brief kiss on the lips before taking a look at Amuro's schedule. Kukai ran off in the opposite direction, saying that he'd see them in a bit.

* * *

Ami was more excited than she had ever imagined. Her big sister was here! Sure she didn't remember them, but at least she was here! She hadn't seen her or been able to talk to her since the accident, but now, even if they would probably not even talk, she could at least see how her real onee-chan had grown up.

Two hands were placed over her eyes, momentarily blinding her.

"Yo!"

Ami spun around. Out of all of her 'older brothers', she liked Kukai the best.

"Ku-kun!" she hugged him tightly.

He smiled down at her. Seeing that Rima, Ikuto, Nagihiko and Nadeshiko were already here and they were smiling like a bunch of crazies, he figured they already knew about Amu's return.

"Guess who ran into Utau and I on her way to her locker, kiddo?"

Ami smiled brightly, childish excitement in her eyes. "Was it Amu-neechan? Was it? Was it?"

Kukai laughed at her immaturity and nodded.

"So, where is she then?" Ikuto asked. He had his hands in his pockets and was shrugging as if he couldn't care any less but Kukai knew that he was just as excited as Ami was.

They all looked up when a high-pitch shout was called across the cafeteria.

"Hey Kukai!"

The soccer player grinned, gesturing with his head in Utau and Amu's direction. "Our girl's right there."

The gang excused themselves from Ami's two friends in order to make their way over to their long lost friend.

Each of them shook her hand and introduced themselves. They each acted as if they'd never met her before in their life.

They all sat down at a large circular table in the middle of the cafeteria.

Looking around the circle, Amuro felt a wave of nostalgia wash over her. How come she recognized them? Why did she feel so at home when she was sitting with a bunch of strangers, all of whom she'd never met?

Amuro stared at each of their faces, racking her brains for a possible time when she may have seen them all before. Perhaps she'd just seen them hanging out at a mall or something? But how is that possible? She'd lived in Taiwan for the past year and a half. And before that, she had lived in three other Asian countries.

And she knew that she hadn't only seen them before, she had also known them. Or at least she thought she did.

Sitting to her right, was Nadeshiko, Yaya and Ami. Without even talking to any of them for more than a mere moment, she already felt like she could describe their personalities dead on. Nadeshiko was the motherly type and Yaya and Ami were the children.

In the next two seats sat Rima and Nagihiko. He was whispering something to her and she blushed. Nagihiko looked like he would be a good friend and someone who she could go to for advice. Rima was shy but Amuro felt like she had some sort of hidden talent that was completely opposite from her shy appearance.

The next chair was empty because Utau was sitting on Kukai's lap. They were making out. And perhaps it was because she had seen their unspoken conversations, she understood that they were truly a perfect match. Kukai and Utau both had strong, determined presences about them and she felt that they would work very well together.

The last person was the one who sat beside her. Ikuto. After Rima had told her earlier that her and Ikuto were only friends and now that she saw her with Nagihiko, she felt some sort of odd relief fill her heart. Just by looking at him, anyone could tell he was very handsome. But Amuro felt like there was something more, beneath his attractive exterior that would only make her like him all the more. But wait! How could she say she already liked him! She didn't even know him! Oh, but she did and she wanted to know why! She knew that he was going to get on her nerves and she knew that she would like it. She knew that he was going to tease her and play mind games with her but in the end, she knew that they would still like each other.

But how did she know these things? Why was she able to describe each and every one of them without having spoken more than a couple sentences to each of them? It wasn't like she had any magical powers. After all, this had never happened to her before. At least, not up until now.

"What's got you so confused, cutie?"

Amuro snarled. She turned to face him, her face turning bright pink when they almost touched noses due to his close proximity.

Immediately, she leaned back, as far as she could, causing a smirk to appear on his face, as he leaned closer once again.

"What's wrong, babe? Why are you running away?"

Amuro let out a disgusted grunt.

"I'm not running away. I just don't think it's proper for a lady like me to be pressed up against a pervert like you. It would give people the wrong impressions."

With a satisfied grin, Ikuto sat back up, allowing her to straighten her back.

"So, how do you like it here so far?" He asked, genuinely interested.

The pinkette stared at him, gaping. A minute ago he was being perverted and now he was being nice? What was he? Bipolar?

Amuro stuttered, "I- it- it's great. Most of the people here are nice. I don't think I've ever made friends this quickly at any of my other schools. But for some reason…"

Her voice trailed off. Ikuto glanced at her, waiting for her to complete her sentence. When he realized she wouldn't say anything more, he prompted, "But for some reason, what?"

Amuro sighed. She'd thought he wouldn't ask why she never finished her sentence, but here he was. She had only stopped because she thought he'd think she were strange; thinking that she'd known them all before and thinking that they'd be friends.

"Huh? Oh that. Um, never mind. I forgot what I was going to say, that's all." She stared across the table at the massive make-out session going on between Utau and Kukai.

Beside her, she heard him mutter something that sounded like "no you didn't," but she ignored it. How would he know whether or not she had forgotten? But not wanting to suffer the awkward silence that had now appeared, she decided to change the subject.

"So, what kind of brother are you if you let your sister make out with her boyfriend so publicly? Shouldn't you be yelling at Kukai or something?"

Ikuto chuckled.

"Naw. Kukai's my best guy friend. And I trust Utau. They've been going out for almost five years now, so you kind of get used to it."

Amuro didn't know how to reply, but luckily, Ikuto decided to carry on.

"If there's anyone that I'm worried about making out, it would be Ami."

Amuro was surprised. Ami? The young girl with the pretty strawberry blonde hair?

"Ami? Why Ami? Is she your girlfriend?"

Ikuto almost choked on his drink.

"A-Ami? My- my girlfriend! No way. She's 7 years younger than me! And anyway, I couldn't possibly date Ami. She's my little sister! I mean, Utau is too, but like I said, her and Kukai have been going out since forever."

Now she was confused. Ami didn't look anything like Utau or Ikuto. Well, Utau and Ikuto didn't look much like each other either, but they had the same, piercing saphire-purple eyes. Ami's were golden, like her own.

"Ami is your little sister? She doesn't look anything like you."

"That's because we adopted her," Amuro watched Ikuto's facial expression turn into one that was somewhat sad, "So she's not my blood sister."

"Oh." She thought it was admirable that Ikuto cared so much about his adopted sister. She wished she had a little sister, but all she had was Yamada-san, her cruel guardian.

"So if you're not dating Ami and you're not dating Rima, then who _are_ you dating?" she couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.

"No one."

She was stunned. Surely someone as handsome as him had a girlfriend; if not anyone long term, at least someone to pass the week with.

At her shocked face, he grinned. "Why, were you thinking of asking me out, Amuro?"

"N-no!" she spat, turning away to hide her reddening cheeks.

"I'm kidding –for now. "

Amuro rolled her eyes. "Tch. Whatever, I'm going to get my school books from my locker and try to remember where my next class is. Maybe I can get a cute boy –not you – to show me around."

"Psht. Like any boy wants to walk around with someone as ugly as you." Ikuto teased, reaching forward to play with a small section of her pink hair as she stood up.

Amuro's face burned crimson. "I knew it! I knew you were a jerk. I could just tell by looking at you."

She began heading out the exit of the cafeteria, Ikuto closely in tow behind her.

"So you admit that you were looking at me, huh? Do you like what you see? Is that why you were planning on asking me out, dear Amuro? You don't have to lie. I'll go out with you. No one else will."

The two walked through the doors, steam blowing heavily out of Amuro's ears as Ikuto continued to pester her.

The gang watched the two retreating forms. It was just like old times. They were glad that Amu has returned. None of them had seen Ikuto this happy for a long, long time. All they needed to do now was make Amu remember them.

"You know what, you're such a jerk!" The pinkette slammed her locker door shut to reveal a grinning cat boy leaning against his own locker.

"And you're annoying. But what do you say we give up this entire charade and just get onto kissing already. I know you find me attractive Amu."

Amuro rolled her eyes in disgust as she turned to walk towards her next class, Biology.

"Who in the right mind would want to kiss you, you pervert. And by the way, my name is Amuro, not Amu."

For a second, Ikuto's eyes widened in shock as he followed the girl through the halls. Had he really just called her Amu? He hadn't even noticed it at all.

* * *

**A/N: For those of you who are wondering if the Charas will be making an appearance, the answer is yes. However, it will be farther down the road. I'm on chapter 6 right now and they still haven't been written in. I believe they will appear in chapter 7. Please review!**

**~twiinklestar**


	4. Chapter 4

**Remembering Yesterday**

**Chapter 4**

A Shugo Chara! Fic

Pairings: IkutoxAmu[ro], KukaixUtau and NagihikoxRima

Summary: What if Gozen's real plan wasn't to gather to embryo at all? What if his real plan was to make a memory-erasing machine instead? What if he succeeded on one Hinamori Amu? Now it's up to an older Ami and all of her sister's old friends to get her back!

Rated K+

Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara! or any of it's characters, but I do own my plot so do not steal.

**A/N: So yesterday, I realized all my formatting was messed up and the breaks weren't showing and there were a few typos so I went back and had to keep replacing the chapters because the breaks still weren't working. Hopefully everything is up to par now.**

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* * *

**

The rest of the day seemed to drag on for years. Not only did she have homeroom with Ikuto, but she also had Biology, P.E, Math and English; in other words, she had every class with him. The only reason that she was able to make it through each of her classes was because she also shared them with Rima. Both Nadeshiko and Nagihiko were in her P.E class which had turned out to be a lot of fun once they got passed the bar spinning. And in English, Nagihiko was there too.

By 3:00, when school got out, Amu was exhausted. Before going home, they had all gathered out front in the school yard.

* * *

"Do you guys want to hang out today? We can go to the café. I heard that Katsu-san offered her nephew a part time job there. A couple of the girls in my homeroom were talking about him this morning. They said he's super cute. But I want to see for myself. Is anybody up for it?" Utau asked, innocently.

Kukai could be seen fuming in the background.

"Ee to… Utau, don't you already have a boyfriend…" Amuro spoke shyly as she stared nervously at the pissed off soccer captain.

Utau looked at Amuro as if she had three heads. "Of course! Kukai is my boyfriend, but it couldn't hurt to check out the other fish in the sea. Don't you agree Rima?"

Rima nodded her head in affirmation. "Utau's right. It's not like we're cheating on them; we're just seeing what's out there; keeping our options open. And plus, Nagihiko knows that he's my one and only. Don't you Nagi?"

Amuro could tell that Nagihiko was only agreeing because he didn't want to make a scene like Kukai was. And although he hid it well, Amuro saw the basketball player's jealousy in the way that his eyes flickered from one place to another and in the way that his arm was now protectively around Rima's waist. Indeed, Nagihiko's jealousy was much more subtler than the waves of fury practically radiating from the tips of Kukai's spiky brown hair.

In the end, they had all agreed to go to the café; if not to check out the new waiter, than to have an after school snack and catch up with each other. On the way there, Amuro had walked silently next to Nadeshiko who, every so often, would glance at her concernedly.

"Is everything alright Amuro? You don't look like you're having any fun at all!" Her motherly voice washed over Amuro's daze.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine Nadeshiko. I'm just a little tired. So many things happened today and it was kind of a lot for me to take in. I'm also a bit worried about what my father will say if I come home late without tell him. He might think I got lost on my way home from school or something…"

The last part had been a lie. Amuro _was _worried about what her 'father' would say, but it wasn't because she thought he'd be scared. She was worried because he'd be angry. He'd probably accuse her of trying to run away or getting a detention on the first day of school.

Nadeshiko was perplexed. She wanted Amu to stay, but she didn't want her to get in trouble with her 'father' either.

"If you have to go home, that's all right. We can always hang out another time. But if you want, I'm sure that Katsu-san has a phone that you can borrow at the café. You can call him from there. You never know, he might let you stay if he hears that you made friends."

Amuro nodded but she knew that Nadeshiko was wrong. Yamada would definitely not let her hang out with friends after school. She'd have more luck if she told him she was going to get her bellybutton pierced.

* * *

When they arrived at the café, Utau was the first one through the door and she immediately began scouting the restaurant for the so-called cute waiter. During the walk there, Kukai had managed to cool off for the most part. He followed closely behind his girlfriend and tried to keep the glaring to a minimal. After all, glaring would definitely ruin his friendly reputation.

Moments after sitting down at their usual table by the window, a waiter came with a pencil and a notebook. He had shaggy brown hair - obviously dyed – and dark brown eyes. He wore the restaurants apron over top of his every day clothes: a relatively tight-fitting blue t-shirt and slim black jeans.

"Konnichiwa. My name is Reiji and I will be your waiter for today. I am new here, so please forgive me if I make any mistakes."

He went around the table writing down each of their orders carefully. Last to order was Ami who was still deciding whether or not she should get a strawberry milkshake or a root beer float. Ami gave the menu one last contemplating look before turning to Reiji and flashing him a smile whilst tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Which one do _you_ think I should get Reiji-san?"

He looked flustered for a moment, but he quickly shook off any feeling of surprise.

"Well, I've yet to try either, but I've heard that the milkshakes here are great! And I've also heard that they're giving discounts to cute girls with strawberry blonde hair." He said with a wink.

Ami blushed as she handed the menu to him.

"Then I guess I'll be taking the strawberry milkshake, now won't I? And do you know what I heard? I heard that cute girls with strawberry blonde hair are giving their phone numbers to cute boys with brown hair."

Now it was Reiji's turn to blush. He collected the rest of the menus and headed back to the kitchen with their orders.

As soon as he had left the table, Utau, Rima, Nadeshiko and Yaya began squealing and giggling. Ikuto was visibly seething in the corner of the booth and Kukai and Nagihiko wore toothy grins. Amuro gave a small smile.

"Oh my gosh Ami! You totally have to give him your number! He was so cute! I was disappointed that he wasn't my age, but then I saw him and I saw you and – oh~ you guys would make such a cute couple!" Utau gushed.

"Cute? Yeah right. Did you see his shirt? I don't know about you guys, but I think that guy was pretty tacky." Ikuto muttered, as he continued to glare out the window, his arms crossed.

All the girls stopped their giggling and turned to Ikuto with shocked expressions. Even Amuro couldn't help but stare.

"Ikuto-niichan, that wasn't very nice. I think-" Ami was cut off abruptly by a raging Utau.

"What's your problem Ikuto? Why do you always have to be so mean? You're always bringing everyone down with your snarky attitude. If Ami likes him, then she's allowed to okay! It doesn't matter whether you find him 'tacky' or not!"

No one expected Ikuto to spin around to face Utau; nor did they expect an argument to break out.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you!? She's too young to like anyone. And plus, I wont let anybody break her heart! She's just a kid!"

"Nii-cha-"

"She's not a kid anymore Ikuto! She's 13! She can do whatever she wants. She doesn't need your permission!"

"Nee-cha-"

"Oh yes she does! She's our little sister and it's our job to take care of her!"

"She'll be fine! Don't you trust her?'

"Of course I trust her! It's everyone else who I don't trust!"

"Well if you trust her, don't you trust that she has better judgement?"

"This isn't about trust. She's too damn young and you know it!"

"No, you're right Ikuto. This isn't about trust but it also isn't about age either."

"What are you talking about Utau? You're so stupid, you know that. What else is this about then?"

"Ikuto, stop it! Stop fooling yourself," Utau's voice began to soften. She chose her words wisely. "Ikuto… do you remember how old _she _was when she fell in love with you? She was 12. She was just going into seventh grade. But she loved you and you loved her."

Ami's eyes welled up with tears. Of course, she'd known all along that this hadn't been entirely about her, but she didn't want her older sister to see Ikuto like this – not when it was her first day back. She felt like a horrible person. They were all sitting here arguing because of Amu when she was sitting right alongside them! It wasn't her fault that she couldn't remember.

For a moment, Ikuto came to the brief realization that this wasn't all about Ami. His head snapped to look at Amuro before rage consumed him once more.

"Yes. It. Is. You don't know what the hell you're talking about, Utau!" He slammed his fist on the table.

Kukai and Nagihiko tried to calm him down.

"Come on now Ikuto. Not here. Not now. Calm down buddy!"

"It's okay Ikuto! We know you're just trying to protect her!"

At this point Ami had begun to cry. She buried her face in Nadeshiko's arms. Yaya patted her back comfortingly. Amuro was lost for words. She could do nothing but watch the scene unfold. Who were they talking about? Why was everyone acting like this was completely normal? What had happened to the cocky pervert who had not wasted a single second trying to annoy her earlier that day?

Now Ikuto's hands were running scabbardly through his hair and over his face.

"She- she's too young. No, she's not allowed. Something bad will happen. She'll be heart broken. She'll- then," the nonsense gibbering silenced. "-No! She has to remember. Let me see her! I'll help her remember! You have to let me see her! Let me see Amu!" And with that, Ikuto's head _plunked_ down onto the table causing Utau to sigh.

* * *

**A/N: Dun dun dun. REVIEW!**

**~twiinklestar**


	5. Chapter 5

**Remembering Yesterday**

**Chapter Five**

A Shugo Chara! Fic

Pairings: IkutoxAmu[ro], KukaixUtau and NagihikoxRima

Summary: What if Gozen's real plan wasn't to gather to embryo at all? What if his real plan was to make a memory-erasing machine instead? What if he succeeded on one Hinamori Amu? Now it's up to an older Ami and all of her sister's old friends to get her back!

Rated T for strong language and mentions of child abuse.

Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara! or any of it's characters, but I do own my plot so do not steal.

* * *

By now, Ami's cries were ringing out through the café. Nadeshiko tried her best to hush her but to no avail. Amuro didn't know what to do. A few minutes ago, everyone was having so much fun and now, Ikuto was unconscious, Ami was bawling her eyes out and the rest of the group was stressing out. What in the world was going on here?

Ami rubbed her eyes and wiped her nose roughly. "I- I'm just going to g-go t-to the washro-" She didn't bother finishing her sentence before she dashed out of the booth, passing a confused Reiji and threw open the bathroom door.

All of Amuro's new friends watched her dart off. Each and every one of them looked miserable but none went after her.

"Um… mina-san, are Ikuto and Ami-chan alright?" They all looked up with wide eyes. It seemed that they had forgotten she was there.

Nadeshiko was the first to speak. "Ah, Amuro-san, please forgive us. We know that this must seem a little strange and I promise that we will explain. But for now, perhaps it would be best if you just went home."

Utau nodded in agreement, sincere apology in her violet eyes. "We're so sorry that you had to see this on your first day Amuro. We don't mean to worry you but Nadeshiko is right, maybe it would be better if you went home for today. We promise we'll explain everything tomorrow. We're so sorry."

Amuro stood. She bid them farewell and turned towards the exit. As she walked away, more confused than ever, she heard Utau explaining to Reiji that they would pay for the drinks they ordered, but they would not be needing them. She closed the café door behind her and started her walk home. Something strange had just happened and she was utterly exhausted.

* * *

As Amuro left, Reiji came to the table with their drinks.

"Gomenasai Reiji-san. We really have to go. Of course, we will definitely pay for the drinks. We're so sorry for your trouble." Utau explained.

Reiji took the bills and nodded his head. He wasn't too sure what had happened, but the cute red-headed girl had ran passed him in tears and the blue-haired boy was sleeping. Obviously something bad had happened. He took the tray of drinks back to the kitchen and poured them down the drain. When he came out to take another order, the girl with the twin brother was standing at the counter.

"Reiji-san!" She called out to him.

"Hoe? Me?" He stuttered dumbly.

The girl nodded as she gently took the note pad and pen out of his hands.

"I'd like to apologize again. We're so sorry but as you can probably understand, our friend really needed to go home. He wasn't feeling well at all. As for Ami, she was worried about her older brother.

"I know that Ami would have wanted me to give you this." Nadeshiko handed him back the notepad. There was a series of numbers scribbled onto it in fancy writing. "She promised you a phone number, did she not? Here you go. I think you should call her some time later tonight when she's not as upset. Good luck Reiji-san!"

Reiji was bewildered. This group surely was strange but the girl, Ami, had been really cute. He grinned as he tucked the number safely into his jeans pocket. There was no way he wasn't calling her later.

* * *

About half way down the street, the Tsukiyomi limo pulled up to the curb. Opening the door, Kukai and Nagihiko both managed to get Ikuto's body through the door and safely onto one of the seats inside. Ami climbed in hastily afterward and pulled his hand into her lap, gripping it tightly. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. Rima had managed to coax her out of the girl's bathroom and told her that although she understood, she wasn't helping Ikuto any by crying.

Utau took her place on the other side of him, brushing the hair out of his eyes. He looked so peaceful now as opposed to the scared look in his eyes before he passed out. Kukai took the seat adjacent to hers and held her hand. Yaya sat beside him and the twins and Rima sat across.

"So what are we going to tell Amu?" Nagihiko asked.

"No idea. We can't tell her that it's her fault. She doesn't remember who she is. And remember what the doctor said? If we try to tell her about her past, it might just suppress the memories further. If we do that, then Hinamori will never remember!" Kukai reminded them.

Yaya responded with, "Either way, we have to tell her the story…"

"We'll just have to pretend she's not Amu. We'll tell her the story as if Amu is someone else. Who knows, it might help trigger her memory instead of pushing it farther back." Nagihiko reasoned.

"And we'll have to wait for a time when Ikuto's not around." Rima pointed out.

"I'll ask Ikuto-niichan to help me with my homework at lunch. You guys can do it then." Ami's voice was so sad that the limo went silent for a moment. "I don't want to hear the story…"

Utau sent her a forced smile. "Good idea Ami-chan. You can keep him distracted and we'll explain to Amu."

The gang watched to see her reaction, but she wasn't listening anymore. She was staring silently out the window with Ikuto's hand still grasped in hers.

"So it's decided then? Ami will distract Ikuto and then we'll tell Amu the story?"

Everyone nodded and waited as they were dropped off, one by one, to their respective houses.

* * *

Amuro closed the door as quietly as possible. She slipped off her shoes and crept passed the living room entry way. Yamada was sitting on his lounge chair yelling at the television screen, beer bottle in hand. An empty bag of chips and a fast food carton were on the ground by his feet. The room reeked of cigarette smoke and booze. Amuro wrinkled her nose in disgust and continued to sneak up to her bedroom.

She had almost succeeded in making it to her bedroom unheard when the floorboard creaked noisily. Yamada jumped to his feet and stumbled drunkenly to the bottom of the staircase.

"Where have _you_ been?" He slurred.

"I was invited to a café with some friends I met at school today." She said briefly while glaring.

He hobbled up the steps towards her, returning her glare with just as much ferocity.

"_Friends_?" Amuro fought not to turn her head away from the stench of his breath. "What friends? You don't have friends. Who would want to be friends with a disgusting whore like you?" He spat.

"I'm not a whore, Yamada. Why don't you just go back downstairs and watch your stupid TV show. I'm going to go do my homework." She placed a hand on the doorknob and shrieked when a rough hand seized her wrist.

"Let go of me you asshole!" She yelled, yanking her arm away with no success.

"Listen here you bitch. I make the rules around here and I say that you're not allowed to make friends. You're lucky I took you in. If it weren't for me, you would have been left to rot in that hospital. Have you already forgotten? Your parents didn't want you so they knocked you over the head with a baseball bat and left you on the roadside to die. Out of the kindness of my heart, I took you in. I took in poor, _useless_ Amuro and gave you a roof over your head. You ought to be thankful."

Tears began to well up in Amuro's eyes. He was right. He had taken her in after her parents abandoned her. But surely her parents weren't any worse than Yamada was.

"Yeah, whatever." She muttered, turning on her heel.

Once again, she was pulled back by his iron grip. He spun her around, rage shining bright in his eyes.

"Don't turn your back on me you cunt!" With that he slapped her, hard.

The sting brought tears to her eyes again. This time when she pulled her arm away, he was too busy laughing to keep his hold on her. She spun around and threw open the door, slamming it behind her and leaning against it.

She could still hear his maniacal laughter but she felt a little bit safer with the door acting as a barrier between them. Turning the lock on the door, she stood up shakily and walked over to her mirror. The laughter ceased and a dull _thump _alerted her that he had blacked out.

The pinkette inspected her reflection. A red hand was imprinted on her cheek and it burned like a blazing fire. A smear of blood dripped over her cheek bone. _Great._

Amuro grabbed a tissue and lightly dabbed at the scratch. She wished she kept a bottle of rubbing alcohol in her bedroom vanity, but alas she did not. Instead, she spat on the napkin and hoped it wouldn't get infected.

Then she picked up her school bag and pulled the books out onto her bed. As she glanced over her math textbook, she was reminded of the events that had occurred at the café only an hour before.

Amuro already knew that there was something different about the people she met today, but the way that Ikuto had completely freaked before fainting had only proved it further. How could they all act so calmly? It was like nonsense shouting, fainting and crying were an everyday occurrence! Yes, there was definitely something different about these people; different, yet somehow familiar.

She still hadn't been able to figure out why she felt so nostalgic when she met them. But then again, as Yamada had said, she'd been knocked over the head with a baseball bat a few years prior and she had no recollection of past events. She considered that they had all been friends a time ago, but then wondered why they wouldn't recognize her. She hadn't changed from what she'd heard. She still had pink hair and golden eyes and always, _always_ wore the red X clips she'd found on her beside table upon waking up at the hospital. Amuro had only grown a couple inches since then and she hadn't gained or lost a substantial amount of weight. She was pretty much the same as she was when Yamada had taken her in. She even had the scar along her hairline where the baseball bat had fractured her skull.

Amuro sighed as she chose a pencil from her pencil case and began writing out the equations from the textbook. If she didn't do her homework or made bad grades, Yamada would only beat her blue.

After finishing her math homework, writing her English essay and sneaking out of her bedroom and into the kitchen to grab a granola bar, she fell asleep.

* * *

**A/N: I'm sorry it's been so long since I last updated. I have no idea why I never posted the chapters I've written. I guess I just got side-tracked. I'm on Winter Break right now so hopefully I'll be able to get a lot of updates in. Once again, I give my sincere apologies.**

**Please review! Constructive criticism is appreciated.**

**~twiinklestar**


	6. Chapter 6

**Remembering Yesterday**

**Chapter Six**

A Shugo Chara! Fic

Pairings: IkutoxAmu[ro], KukaixUtau and NagihikoxRima

Summary: What if Gozen's real plan wasn't to gather to embryo at all? What if his real plan was to make a memory-erasing machine instead? What if he succeeded on one Hinamori Amu? Now it's up to an older Ami and all of her sister's old friends to get her back!

Rated T

Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara!, Pokémon or any of their characters, but I do own my plot so do not steal.

* * *

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Amuro slammed her hand down on the alarm, effectively shutting it off. She groaned as she sat up, flinching when she sat down on something sharp. Reaching underneath her bum, she pulled out the pencil she'd been using to do her homework the night before. Bits of granola were in her hair and when she rubbed her eyes, her cheek was throbbing.

She sighed, remembering the slap and the scratch Yamada had given her. She hoped his sleep was uncomfortable. _Then again,_ she thought, _how could it not have been?_ He had passed out, drunk, on the floor outside her door.

Rolling out the kink in her neck, Amuro grabbed a towel from the linen closet and stepped overtop of Yamada's sleeping body. She felt the urge to kick him where it would hurt, but she didn't want to risk waking him. Muttering something under her breath, she made her way to the shower and shut the door behind her.

* * *

A puff of steam emerged from the door as Amuro stepped out into the hallway. Yamada was still knocked out on the floor snoring louder than the Snorlax she remembered in the earlier days of Pokémon. Once again, she stepped over his body and into her bedroom. She found her brand new uniform on the stool in front of her vanity and slipped it on. It was cute, but quite boring. She decided it needed to be spiced up a little bit more. She was, after all, Cool and Spicy Kugimiya Amuro.

Amuro searched for her blue thigh-high stockings and a blue ribbon to lace through her corset. She pinned a large bow onto one of the collar flaps and clipped her signature red Xs into her hair. She then put on her shoes and threw her school books into her bag. Tossing the bag over her shoulder she paused to check her reflection in the mirror.

The scratch stood out on her cheek. It seemed it had gotten a bit infected. _Damn Yamada and his disgusting finger nails, _she for her cover-up, she did her best to hide it but nothing could completely hide the blaring redness. Giving up and not wanting to be late for her second day of school, she went to the kitchen to prepare her breakfast and lunch.

She decided that a sandwich would do for today and she quickly whipped one up and zipped it into a plastic baggy. She then placed it, as well as a couple other snacks, gently onto the top of her books so she wouldn't squish them and popped a bagel in the toaster.

Amuro wondered what the day would be like and if she would remember where all her classes were. Most of all, she wondered when her new friends would explain yesterdays episode.

She'd dreamt of their explanation all night. In one dream, Ikuto was a young boy playing a violin to his pet dog. When he finished his song, he had somehow managed to kill the dog leading her to believe he might have some sort of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Another dream told her that he was kidnapped by his evil step father and was put under hypnosis. While under hypnosis, he terrorized the town, crushing the dreams of children everywhere by removing eggs from their hearts and taping X's over top them. The dream had involved monsters as well.

Whatever the real story was, both scenarios seemed highly unlikely. How could someone kill a dog by playing violin music? She doubted Ikuto could play the violin anyhow. And hypnosis was just a pricey joke. Amuro didn't believe in magic. Hypnosis was another sneaky ploy to get your money. Actors pretended to be randomly selected audience members and then made fools of themselves up on stage. Plus: eggs coming out from children's hearts? That was crazy talk.

When the toaster _pinged, _Amuro nearly fell out of her seat. Shaking her head, she grabbed the tub of cream cheese from the fridge and began spreading it generously over the toasted bagel. She placed the knife in the sink with a _clank _and made her way to the door; she would eat and walk at the same time. Taking one last look at the passed out man in front of the stairs, she slammed the door shut – praying that it would piss him off – and began to walk to school.

* * *

Yaya, Nadeshiko, Nagihiko, Rima and Utau were waiting on the front steps of the school building. Ikuto had already gone inside with Ami and was probably sucking up to her right about now. Whenever Ikuto had his freak outs, he always felt horrible afterward for scaring Ami. The next day was always spent pampering her and doing whatever she liked so that he could make it up to her. Honestly, Ami didn't really care if he 'made it up to her.' After all, it was _her_ sister that had lost her memory so she obviously understood. But she would gladly accept any extra time Ikuto wanted to spend with her and any presents he felt the need to give to her.

Kukai strolled up to the group, yawning and passing a hand through his spiky hair. The bell would ring any moment now. He greeted his girlfriend with a good morning peck on the lips.

"The bell is going to ring soon, you know." She teased.

"I know that. My teachers should just be glad I'm here in the first place!" Kukai said, wrapping his arm around Utau's shoulder. Turning to the rest of the group, he grinned, "So what've you all been up to this fine morning? Did I miss anything important?"

Utau rolled her eyes affectionately. "We've been discussing which parts of the story we're going to tell Amu." The bell rang. "Don't worry, I'll fill you in on the way to class, dork."

* * *

Ami and Ikuto were wandering through the hallways telling each other random stories and jokes when the bell rang. They arrived at Ami's locker and she spun the combination, pulling the door open and handing a few of her textbooks to Ikuto.

"Ami-" Ikuto started, his brow furrowed.

"I know what you're going to say nii-chan and it's okay. I'm sorry too. I didn't know that flirting with him would have reminded you of her. If I knew, I wouldn't have done it. Honest. But nee-chan was right, Ikuto-niichan. I'm old enough to have a boyfriend and I know you just want to protect me… I just need room to make my own mistakes, okay?" Ami tried to take her books back but he lifted them out of her reach.

"Dame. Walk you to class?"

She nodded and the brother and sister walked down the hallway. As they neared her class, Ikuto stopped. He pulled Amu's little sister into a hug and kissed her hair lightly.

"I really am sorry Ami-chan. I hate it when I scare you like that." She hugged him tighter. "And for the record, I still don't think you're old enough to date." He stuck his tongue out at her.

As Ami laughed, she punched his shoulder playfully and took her textbooks from him. Leave it to Ikuto to ruin a perfectly good moment.

* * *

IKUTO'S POV:

I watched her walk into her classroom and join a group of giggling girls. They were all whispering, probably gossiping about their latest crushes. I love Ami, but the girls she hung out with were a bit ridiculous. I already had trouble accepting that she's starting to like boys; the last thing I needed is for her to turn into some giggly bimbo who's nothing short of boy obsessed.

The second bell reminded me that I was late for homeroom so I stuck my hands in my pockets and headed back down the hall in the opposite direction. Chances were that Rima had already grabbed my textbooks from my locker (I'm often too lazy to bother grabbing them myself or I flat out forget).

I took my time, using the short walk to class to think about yesterday. I didn't remember much about the café. All I could recall was ordering a strawberry milkshake and watching Ami flirt with the waiter. After that, everything was kind of a blur.

I slid open the door to the classroom and Mr. Fujiyoto stopped speaking in order to glare at me.

"Mr. Tsukiyomi, would you like to explain why you're late."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I was walking my little sister to class. You know, making sure she got there alright and stuff."

A majority of the girls in my class heaved dreamy sighs and I smirked. True, I had walked Ami to class, but the last bit had been unnecessary. It was fun making the girls all flustered. Rima was snickering and Amu looked as if she couldn't decide whether to roll her eyes or smile.

As I made my way over to my desk, I heard Mr. Fujiyoto speak. I guess my overprotective-older-brother charm didn't impress him as much as it did the girls.

"As endearing as that is, it's not a very good reason to be late Mr. Tsukiyomi. One more time and you'll be getting a detention."

I resisted the urge to tell him exactly where he could shove his detention and settled for nodding instead.

Satisfied, he resumed his lecture.

"So did you _actually_ walk Ami-chan to class, Tsukiyomi?" Rima asked as she hands me my textbook.

I didn't know whether I was amused or offended that she actually had to ask.

"Of course I did, Rima-chan. I'm a good big brother!"

She shook her head and started scribbling something in her notebook. I turned around to look at Amu.

"You believe me, don't you Amuro?"

Amu's face reddened adorably. I guess she still felt kind of awkward after what happened yesterday. I noticed a scratch on her cheek but I didn't say anything about it. Knowing Amu, she probably walked face-first into a tree branch or something. I wouldn't put it past her.

"I-I guess so." She said quickly before turning to face Mr. Fujiyoto. I can tell she's not really listening, just pretending to.

Realizing that neither her nor Rima are up to talking, I inwardly groan at my misfortune and reluctantly tune into the mundane announcements.

* * *

AMI'S POV:

When I entered the classroom, I immediately headed straight towards my friends. Chise and Ayano, the two girls I was eating lunch with yesterday, were there as well as a few other girls. They were all laughing about something.

I settled into my seat and turned to face them, keying into their gossip.

"Katsumi-san is so adorable! I wish he would like me!" one girl, Etsuko, sighed.

"Katsumi-kun? No way! Ichirou-kun is _far_ handsomer." Chise disagreed. Etsuko and Chise then began to argue.

I giggled. They were so silly when it came to boys.

"_Psst._" I turned to look at Ayano. She leaned over and bent down to my ear.

"Did something happen yesterday? I saw Tsukiyomi-san kiss your head in the hallway. That almost _always_ means something bad happened. Are you okay?"

Ayano was my closest friend. She knew almost everything there was to know about me. She knew about the car crash, about Amu's memory loss and about the Tsukiyomi family.

I nodded my head, smiling gently. "Yeah, everything's okay now. Nii-chan just had another one of his relapses."

She nodded her head understandingly. "What caused it this time?"

"Well, you know how Amu's here, right? Well we decided to take her to the café. Utau-chan really wanted to check out the cute waiter so we went. When we got there, we found out that he was my age so I flirted a bit and Ikuto started being Ikuto and all hell broke loose from there. One minute he was saying I was too young for boys and the next he was passed out on the table." I whispered the last sentence. Nobody except for our group of friends, Ayano and my parents knew about his episodes and as far as we were concerned, no one else needed to know.

"Aw, poor Tsukiyomi-san."

At the mention of Ikuto, Chise and Etsuko ended their argument and all the girls began gushing about him instead.

"So back to the cute waiter: spill!"

I blush and look down at my hands. "We talked on the phone last night."

Ayano stared back at me excitedly. "Oh my gosh! Seriously? Don't stop! Continue~!"

I blushed even more. "He's so cute-"

"Who's cute Ami-chan?" A girl named Rika asked innocently.

I hadn't even realized anybody else was listening to our conversation. It seemed that the Ikuto-talk had only lasted a few moments. Now all the girls were staring expectantly back at me.

Before I could speak for myself, Ayano spoke for me. "The cute waiter from Katsu-san's café. He and Ami-chan talked on the phone last night!"

They all squealed.

"So what did you guys talk about?" Etsuko prompted.

"Well… not much really. We mostly talked about him. Turns out, he's actually from Sapporo. He's living with Katsu-san for the remainder of the school year."

Etsuko gave me a sceptical glance.

"Are you sure that's _all _you talked about?"

"Yeah," I shrugged. We _had _flirted a lot between conversations but we really did mainly talk about his opinion of Ginza.

"Well how did it end? Are you going to talk to him again tonight?" Ayano asked, genuinely curious.

"Ikuto-niichan told me he'd take me to the café after school for sweets. Maybe I'll see him then."

Rika sighed. "You're so lucky Ami-chan. You get all the cute boys!"

With that said, once again, they begin to talk about Ikuto. I looked away (listening to them swoon over my older brother was kind of gross, albeit sometimes a bit entertaining) and concentrated on finishing some of the homework I didn't get around to doing last night.

* * *

AMU[RO]'S POV:

When Ikuto asked me if I believed him, I could feel my face heating up. I didn't know whether or not I believed him. I knew he cared a lot about Ami from what he said to me yesterday, I just didn't know if he cared enough to walk her to class to make sure she gets there – in his words – "alright and stuff."

Part of me thought that he was just being a pervert and trying to get girls. Another part of me thought he was awfully sweet and wanted to pet his head like a cat. _Hold on a second. Pet him? Like a cat? Where did that come from?_

My face became redder and I turned to look at the teacher. I wasn't actually listening, but I didn't want Ikuto to find out I was picturing him with cat ears.

* * *

**A/N: So I realized that there were a few Japanese expressions that I had written in this story that I hadn't explained. I take Japanese in high school so I know what they mean; I guess it just never occurred to me that you might not. So I'll try to remember the ones I've written and I'll also try to remember to explain any others that are used in the future.**

**Hajimemashite douzo yoroshiku (ha-G-may-mahsh-tay doe-zo yo-ro-sh-ku) – It's nice to meet you. Please take care of me.**

**Ee to (A-toe) – Umm…**

**Ano (a-no) – Umm…**

**Konnichiha or Konnichiwa (ko-knee-chi-wa) – Hello (afternoon).**

**Gomenasai (go-men-na-sI) – Sorry.**

**Dame (da-may) – That's no good/Darn.**

**Onee-san (O-nay-san) – Older sister.**

**Onii-san (O-knee-san) – Older brother.**

**Hoe (hway) – What!**

**Sugoi (sue-goy) – Cool. (Which I now realize that I wrote: "Cool. She's so cool!")**

**Anyway, please leave a review! (:**

**~twiinklestar**


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